Dear Editor,
In recent times the Church has been under attack from those who do not understand what the institution is, do not want to understand, and those who are disobedient.
God created the world for the sake of communion with His divine life. After mankind fell into sin and disrupted that relationship with God and with his fellow men, God prepared for the Church in the Old Covenant by calling Abraham and promising that he would become the father of a great people.
Its immediate preparation began with Israel's election as the 'people of God', which made Israel the sign of the future gathering of all nations. But the prophets accused Israel of breaking the Covenant and behaving like prostitutes. They announced a new and eternal Covenant (Jeremiah 31) which was inaugurated by Jesus Christ to reunite all of mankind into one worldwide family of God, built on the teaching of the Apostles with Jesus Himself as the ultimate head (Ephesians 2).
In our media and popular culture, little is off limits in ridiculing and parodying the true Church, while in some instances promoting counterfeits, some of whom publicly preach and teach hatred, slander and malign others, and contradict and falsify scripture and history as their weapon to achieve what they call success.
History is repeating itself. Roots of the Reformation tells us how the media then were monopolised and manipulated by elements which had no respect for truth to gain ascendancy. The same is happening today in sections of the media.
Few know that western civilisation stands indebted to the Church for the university system, charitable work, international law, the sciences, important legal principles, and much more. These successes were made possible through the Church, because it teaches man to find answers to the most troubling questions in life, and social, moral, and spiritual values which are now considered irrelevant.
In the present culture, it is easy to forget, or not to learn in the first place, because people no longer seek knowledge and understanding beyond what it takes to earn a living, so most otherwise educated people are religiously ignorant and easily misled through their own fault. They have no excuse in this information age.
Power-drunk national leaders take possession of the foundations built by the Church and throw out the Church, together with the principles on which those foundations are built. Men endowed with gifts and talents to be used for building up the Kingdom of God on earth... use them to try to build their own little kingdoms instead.
Since they do not possess the moral or spiritual authority and the culture, strength and experience acquired over hundreds of years, their efforts result in the opposite of the desired result. The people who have failed the Church are those who have misused their free will and failed to make the right choice in spite of easier access to information and better educational opportunities.
The Church has not failed. Its facilities and guidance are always available.
Al James
alvalj@cwjamaica.com
The Church has not failed
-->
In recent times the Church has been under attack from those who do not understand what the institution is, do not want to understand, and those who are disobedient.
God created the world for the sake of communion with His divine life. After mankind fell into sin and disrupted that relationship with God and with his fellow men, God prepared for the Church in the Old Covenant by calling Abraham and promising that he would become the father of a great people.
Its immediate preparation began with Israel's election as the 'people of God', which made Israel the sign of the future gathering of all nations. But the prophets accused Israel of breaking the Covenant and behaving like prostitutes. They announced a new and eternal Covenant (Jeremiah 31) which was inaugurated by Jesus Christ to reunite all of mankind into one worldwide family of God, built on the teaching of the Apostles with Jesus Himself as the ultimate head (Ephesians 2).
In our media and popular culture, little is off limits in ridiculing and parodying the true Church, while in some instances promoting counterfeits, some of whom publicly preach and teach hatred, slander and malign others, and contradict and falsify scripture and history as their weapon to achieve what they call success.
History is repeating itself. Roots of the Reformation tells us how the media then were monopolised and manipulated by elements which had no respect for truth to gain ascendancy. The same is happening today in sections of the media.
Few know that western civilisation stands indebted to the Church for the university system, charitable work, international law, the sciences, important legal principles, and much more. These successes were made possible through the Church, because it teaches man to find answers to the most troubling questions in life, and social, moral, and spiritual values which are now considered irrelevant.
In the present culture, it is easy to forget, or not to learn in the first place, because people no longer seek knowledge and understanding beyond what it takes to earn a living, so most otherwise educated people are religiously ignorant and easily misled through their own fault. They have no excuse in this information age.
Power-drunk national leaders take possession of the foundations built by the Church and throw out the Church, together with the principles on which those foundations are built. Men endowed with gifts and talents to be used for building up the Kingdom of God on earth... use them to try to build their own little kingdoms instead.
Since they do not possess the moral or spiritual authority and the culture, strength and experience acquired over hundreds of years, their efforts result in the opposite of the desired result. The people who have failed the Church are those who have misused their free will and failed to make the right choice in spite of easier access to information and better educational opportunities.
The Church has not failed. Its facilities and guidance are always available.
Al James
alvalj@cwjamaica.com
The Church has not failed
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